Clip



G. V. CURTIS.

CLIP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.10, 1920.

1,374,882. I Pate te Apr- 12, 1921.

INVENTOR.

-WITNESS: 5 4/ v gwatdm,

. ATTORNEY.

OFFICE.

GEORGE V. CURTIS, OF WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

CLIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

Application filed September 10, 1920. Serial No. 409,360.

To all whom it may concern:

of Hampden and State of Massachusetts,

have invented anew and useful Clip, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices which are attachable to pencils, fountain pens, or other more or less similar implements, for the purpose of holding such implements in place in the pockets of coats and vests, or attaching them to and supporting them on belts and the like. The said inventlon consists essentially of the usual resilient members that embrace or engage the implement which it is desired to carry on the person, and a depending member that engages the outside of the pocket or belt and grips the same between it and the implement, in the customarymanner, to prevent the latter from becoming accidentally displaced, and which is provided with a knife, blade, or cutter adapted to slit open envelops, the device or clip as a whole and the cutter being of certain peculiar and special construction, all as hereinafter set forth.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a clip, of the character described above, which is adapted to be employed as an envelop opener, such clip being capable of use in the customary manner and for the customary purpose and having the additional advantage of being serviceable as an envelop opener.

Another object is to produce such a clip which can be stamped out of sheet-metal, formed up or bent into shape, and easily and quickly assembled, so that the same is very inexpensive to manufacture. Furthermore it is simple in construction and operation. Aside from the stamping and forming operations there is no machine or other work involved in the manufacture of my clip other than such as may be required to put an edge on or sharpen the cutting portion of th blade.

The clip serves the double purpose of a supporting and securing member for .a pencil, fountain pen, or other implement and an envelop opener, and this without detracting from the utility of the clip so far as its original or primary purpose or object is concerned; rather the addition of the cutting element tends to increase the strength and stiffness of the device so that all parts of I th same can be made of very thin metal. Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the ad vantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,--

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a clip which embodies a practical form of my invention, show ng the same attached to a fountain pen and in turn attaching and supporting such pen to and in a pocket of a vest, and also lllustratnig the manner of using the clip as an envelop opener, an envelop being represented as held by a hand in the act of being slit along one edge, and showing a portion of such dge already slit; Fig. 2, an enlarged top plan of said clip, and, Fig. 3, an enlarged central, vertical, section taken through the depending or upright member of the clip from front to back.

I Similar reference characters designate s1m1lar parts throughout the several views.

In the first View a portion of a vest is representedat 1, the outside of a pocket at 2, a fountain pen at 3, and an envelop at 4, the latter being held by a hand which is assumed to b in the act of moving downwardly with the envelop to slit the same.

The clip comprises a shank 5 provided with a pair of gripping members or fingers 6 at the top and with a hollow ball 7 at the bottom, all being integral, and a cutting blade or knife 8. having a shank 9 which is attached to said first-named shank, said blade or knife being in said ball. The material of which these parts and members are constructed is more or less resilient so as to enable the gripping members or fingers 6 tightly or snugly to engage the fountain pen 3 (or other implement), and the ball 7 to be forcibly held by the shank 5 against the outside 2 of the pocket, with such part of the pocket between said ball and said pen. The bottom edges of the fingers 6 may rest on the upper edge of the outside 2 of the pocket. The shank 5, with its fingers 6 and ball 7, is' preferably struck out of a piece of thin sheet-metal, and then pressed into the shape of the finished article. The upper portion of the shank 5 is bent to form a longitudinal, V-shaped, inset part 10, and from the for-' ward edges of such art extend the fingers 6, substantially as s own in Fig. 2. The

. open the entire length fingers 6 have a similar curvature to fingers for a similar purpose with which other clips are provided, such purpose being to embrace or partially embrace an implement, and thereby attach or serve as means of attachment to such implement for the clip. In the angle of the aforesaid V-shaped part 10 is a short slot 11, and in the shank 5 below said slot is a long slot 12. The material, of which the shank 5 is made and from which it is cut or stamped and formed up, is shaped to form the hollow ball 7, and cut out to produce in said ball a narrow slot 13 behind and a wide slot or opening 14 in front, which latter extends part way through the bottom of the ball, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The slot 13 and the opening 14 communicate with each other through the base of the shank 5 above the ball 7.

The blade, knife, or cutter 8 is hookshaped with the concave edge, which is the cutting edge, uppermost. The shank 9 extends upwardly from the blade 8, has a slight forward curvature, and is provided at the top with a rearwardly-extending offset or lug 15 which is received in the slot 11. The convex portionof the blade 8 at the heel rests on the inside of the ball 7 between the bottom of the slot 13 and the rear edge of the opening 14, and the shank 9 extends upwardly through said slot, behind the shank 5, forwardly and upwardly through the slot 12, and upwardly in front of the lower portion of the V-shaped part 10, and the lug 15 extends rearwardlyinto the slot 11. Thus it is seen that the blade 8 is securely sup, ported and held in place by the lug 15 which is in engagement with the V-shaped part 10, and by the other engaging parts of the shank 5, including the ball 7, so that there is no liability that said blade will be displaced. The blade 8 is inserted in place by passing said blade downwardly and rearwardly through the slot 12, then downwardly behind the shank 5, and finally downwardly and forwardly through the slot 13 to its seat in the ball 7, the lug 15 at the same time being carried rearwardly into and through the slot 11.

Access is had to the blade 8 and the cutting edge thereof through the opening 14 in the ball 7, so that one corner of an envelop to be opened can be readily placed in position to have the blade introduced or inserted there at the bottom end of the edge which is to be slit. After placing the envelope in position to be slit open by the blade 8, said envelop is drawn down through the opening 14 until the edge to be out is slit thereof. The slit in the envelop appears substantially like that shown at 16 in Fig. 1.

The general and specific application or use of this device will be quite well understood from the foregoing, so that a lengthy description of the same is not deemed necessary. I may simply add, in passing, that, in practice, the fingers 6 are forced into place on the fountain pen 3 (or other implement) and adjusted a suitable distance thereon from the top thereof, and that, when said pen is inserted in the pocket, the ball 7 slides down on the outside 2 of such pocket, and the latter is grasped between the pen within and the ball without, so that said pen is prevented from being accidentally displaced and from falling out of the pocket. lVhen it is desired to slit open an envelop, as 4, the envelop is placed or held in position in the opening 14 to have the point of the blade 8 introduced beneath the fiap which is to be slit, and then said envelop is drawn downwardly until said blade emerges from or at the opposite end of said flap, the edge of the envelop which is thus drawn downwardly through said opening having then been cut open its entire length.

Obviously the clip can be used as an envelop opener when said clip is held in the hand and whether on or oil of the fountain pen or other implement.

Very thin material, such as sheet-metal,

can be employed in the construction of both of the ma or elements of this clip, as hereinbefore observed, owing to the manner in which the clip is constructed, which naturally is an important advantage.

ore or less change in the shape, size,

construction, and arrangement of the parts and members of this clip may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or exceeding the scope of what is claimed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a clip, of the class described above, comprising a member which is adapted to be attached to an implement and has a part to bear on material interposed between said implement and with a fixed envelop opener having a crescent-shaped cutting part with the point of such part directed upwardly.

s an improved article of manufacture, an implement-attaching and -supporting clip comprising a shank having implement-em gaging fingers behind and a curved part at the base to engage material introduced between the implement and such part, and a fixed envelop opener supported by said part,

the cutting portion of said opener being crescent-shaped with its pointdirected upwardl clip comprising a shank slotted from front to back,

and having implement-engagin fingers at the top and a hollow ball at the bottom, and a fixed cutter seated in said ball and having a shank which extends upwardly through the slots in said first-named shank and into engagement therewith.

A. As an improved article of manufac ture, an implement-attachin and supporting clip comprising a shan slotted from front to back, and having implement-engaging fingers at the top and a hollow ball at the bottom, which ball is open in front and slotted behind, and a fixed cutter seated in said ball behind said opening, and having a shank which extends u wardly through the slot in said ball and rst-named shank and into engagement with the latter.

5. The combination, in a clip of the class described, with a shank having im lenientengaging fingers at the top and a ho low ball at the bottom, and also havin slots therein, and said ball having a rear s 0t and a front and bottom opening therein, of an envelop cutter seated in said ball and being accessible through said opening therein, and havpart, at the top, with implement-engaging fingers extended therefrom, and havin a hollow ball at the base, and also having s ots therein, and said ball having a rear slot and a front and bottom opening, which last-named slot and opening communicate with each other at the bottom of said shank, of an envelop cutter seated in said ball, and being accessible through said openin therein, and having a lug-provided shanfi which extends upwardly through the slots in said ball and first-named shank, with its lug 40 in one of said'slots.

GEORGE V. CURTIS. Witnesses:

F. A. Co'rmn, MARIAN SU'rroN. 

